Townhouses
- Art Deco, Decorative Arts, Dr Stephen Kelly, Fireplaces, Galleries, Geoffrey Bradfield, Interior Design, Shagreen, Silver, Townhouses, Upper East Side of Manhattan
A Doctor’s Best Kept Secret Unleashed!
Kelly Gallery Study with Jourbet et Petit cerused oakand marble table and Andre Frechet CabinetI’ve long been fascinated with art deco particularly because of its preoccupation with lavish ornamentation, its superb craftsmanship and fine materials. And I feel fortunate to live in a town that is home to some of the most trustworthy art deco dealers in the world, namely Delorenzo, Maison Gerard, Friedman & Vallois, to name a few. Exactly one week to this day, I attended the opening of a gallery that can easily take its place among the rank of the illustrious establishments named above.
For over thirty years Dr. Stephen Kelly, a successful ophthalmologist with a Manhattan practice has been quietly assembling a collection of rare and important Art Deco furniture, fine art and design and filling his ca. 1915 landmark limestone and brick townhouse with these treasures. Now in his 60s, Dr. Kelly has embarked on a second career as a gallery owner.His treasured art deco gallery is nestled between the three floors of his dramatic six-story Upper East Side home. The gallery has now been opened since Wednesday, December 12th. The doctor’s entire collection is an impressive one to be sure. And art deco enthusiasts and collectors now have the opportunity to possess some of the most rarest pieces on the market – a variety of objects by such famed French Art Deco craftsmen as Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Jean-Michel Frank, Jean Dunand, Sue et Mare, A.A. Rateau, Eugene Printz, Edgar Brandt and Albert Cheuret, and others.
Salon Kelly Gallery with Ruhlman Lorcia Table Center and LeftMost of the fine art deco on view are between 1918 and 1939. Dr. Kelly puts particular emphasis on this period in France between the two world wars as one of the greatest and most productive times for fine and decorative arts. Pieces from this period lend a certain elegance and patina of age to a modern interior, without an 18th or 19th century antique look, and work well with all forms of 20th century fine art.
Kelly Gallery Assorted English Shagreen and Ivory Boxes ca 1925
KG Cardeillhac Sterling, Tortoise and Ivory Wine Caddies ca 1930Particular gems from the gallery include a monumental Sèvres urn by Ruhlmann that was one of four from the ocean liner Ile de France – only one other survives and is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Also on view is a spectacular straw marquetry cabinet by Jean-Michel Frank; a Rateau giltwood daybed from the home of Jeanne Lanvin; a one-of-a-kind silver and champlevé enamel clock by Jean Goulden, which was exhibited in the Art Deco Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2003; a coquille d’oeuf lacquer vase by Dunand from the 1925 Art Deco Exhibition in Paris and exhibited in the 1926 Art Deco Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and a unique amboyna wood table by Ruhlmann originally designed for the French actress Gabrielle Lorcia ca.1930, as well as modernist paintings and works on paper by Christian Bérard, Fernand Leger, Max Ernst and Sonia Delaunay juxtaposed against contemporary masters like Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns and Jean Dubuffet.
Important Jean Luce Glass VasesThe gallery features a vast array of vintage silver or alligator photograph frames, crystal and silver perfume bottles and dressing sets, period ceramics and glass, period sterling silver serving pieces, bookends, lamps, classic American guilloche enamel sterling silver doubles cufflinks, 18kt gold doubles cufflinks, shagreen and ivory boxes, cubistic pewter dinanderie vases and other vintage Art Deco gift items that start at around $150, with median prices of $1000 to $10,000.
“I particularly like the rare and beautiful woods used in furniture during this period, frequently decorated with shagreen, ivory, parchment, tortoiseshell or lacquer,” says Dr. Kelly. “I am drawn to the handcrafted artistic quality of the wrought-iron work and lacquered dinanderie vases. It was also one of the greatest periods in fine art with the advent centered in Paris of cubism, surrealism and orphism.”Dr. Stephen KellyThe space features a spectacular interior that was originally designed by Geoffrey Bradfield and the late Jay Spectre. It includes a large two story solarium and more recently updated by Mr. Bradfield with a parchment-paneled drawing room, Venetian plaster foyer and macassar ebony-paneled library.
The Kelly Gallery is located at 154 East 71st Street (Between 3rd and Lexington Avenues), New York City. Hours of operation are: Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Tel: 212.744.0004Photo courtesy Josh GaddyAll rights reserved
